What do you mean by free screen cleaning?
1.brush down both sides and wipe the edges?
2. Wash with water?
I will do #1 at no extra charge but I find it a hard pill to swallow to give away a full works wash w/ water. It can take a while longer.
What are your practices?
Same as you, brush both side and wipe frame for free
I use an electric pressure washer when they want a complete detail.
What value do you place on “a full works wash?”
BTW, a full wash according to me includes a cleaning solution in the water.
My included free screen [I]wiping[/I] consists of removing screen, brush if needed, scrub back and front with old strip washer then pad dry with a towel. If they ask for anything beyond that I charge extra.
Lately the areas I’ve been doing work have very few screens or the ones they have are on the inside and don’t need much more than a wipe with a wet towel. I don’t even take them outside.
I clean screens just like that with a little cleaning solution in the water. I can’t see me doing that for free though. To remove, take outside, clean properly, take back inside and replace is well worth the $2 each that I charge. I’m thinking about taking it up, it’s just taking soooooo long!
I just answered basically this same question over on the AUWC site. For many companies they charge for everything.With us…we offer free screen cleaning included in our int & ext cleaning package. Of course unless there in decent shape to begin with basic brushing will do minimal.
That’s when i up sell the “deep cleaning” of screens if they decide to go for it there always floored with the results.
As a matter of fact I’m seriously pondering doing away with the freebie (unless there pristine) or casement screens and include the deep cleaning on all gigs,it truly makes a difference!
I include a “basic” cleaning for free.
I charge $5 per screen for a more intense detailing…outside scrub down, rinse off, air dry…
I will do a brush and wipe for free but like everyone else deep cleaning takes too much time. What kind of cleaner do you use for you deep clean ? I am still searching for a cleaner that does a great job for my customers:)
we use 1 of 2 either Formula 90 or Heat Wave both are carpet cleaning detergents available from Jon Don supplies. A few of us have dabbled with green cleaners too… but myself have only had satisfactory results,nothing compares to either above.
Check it out at www.jondon.com under carpet cleaning detergents. Trust me…you’ll FLOOR clients!!
Dont bother with JonDon, Find a local Janitorial supply, or carpet cleaning supply and support them, your local shops…
I definitely don’t do services for free. There is always some way to recoup $$ that you may have “offered on discounts”, somewhere. Screens are very time consuming and difficult. And that is $$ toward your bottom line. I have found that I can get between $2-$5 per screen for a complete scrub down with soap and water. Most customers don’t even flinch at this because they know that the windows are dirty so the screens must be dirty too. I up-sell, like Craig said for those who seem willing.
As far as Heat wave or Formula 90, whatever…it’s been around AUWC for a while, but I use Tide with Bleach alternative with great results. I have even had a customer recently call me nearly a week after wards just to say that her front porch smelled so nice after we scrubbed her screens. Cleans great and smells good too. Can’t beat it.
But please do yourself and others a favor and don’t do things for free. Tell them that you’ll throw it in, but be sure to get your $$ for your efforts, especially screen cleaning…
Those of you that use more than soap and water, where do you clean the screens. On the driveway? Have you ever stained the concrete or asphalt. I clean with soap and water in the grass. Each one is cleaned under the window it belongs to, so I don’t get the screens out of order.
The best way to “deep clean” screens is by laying them flat on the ground,by doing this you run less risk of loosening the spline which in turn the screen or fabric loses its tautness.
We normally do them on on driveway or in the back yard on a slab etc. I have had NO effects from any of the various detergents i’ve used to the driveway,cement,asphalt or even the run off onto grass.
As Bert mentioned Tide w/bleach alternative is not actually bleach so its safe.
We normally round up screens and keep them in pairs for each side of the house this way there is less confusion when re-installing them.
The best way i feel to clean them is with a soft brush although im fond of the Ettore super system brush because it can fit on a pole which means less bending over.
Scrub 1 side flip & repeat then…rinse as usual hand or towel swat to relieve . excess water & let stand and air dry,the results are amazing;)
We do as Craig, we wash them on the drive or sidewalk–wherever there is a relatively flat section of concrete. We also use a soft to medium brush.
When we are taking them off, we all know where our starting point is and we use a small sharpie marker to number the screens on an inconspicuous area. That way if they get out of order, we just count and find the right match.
If they are two stories or more, then we make the numbering system begin at 1a, 2a, 3a, etc for ground level and 1b, 2b, 3b for second floor, and on rare occasion we even use 1c,2c,3c and so on. Works nicely and never get lost on screens…learned that one the hard way.
We did a job last week that had expanded metal (the metal style cross “X” patterns use for trailers, animal pins, etc.) to keep the dogs from tearing the screens. It works for him, but it took a while to clean them. Each screen had to have the expanded metal unscrewed (8-10 screws each) and then scrubbed and rinse, followed by remounting the expanded metal and another final rinse before they were set to air dry. Whew! But I made $5/each and there was only 15. the customer was very pleased!
but I use Tide with Bleach alternative with great results.
What a great idea, wish I had thought of that one!!!
it looks like formula 90 cost 100 bucks!
Is tide with bleach alternative just as effective.
This is a good post i have been contemplating this in my head, i just haven’t found a good way of selling this. Selling screen cleaning could be a good way to motivate people, by showing them you have a higher standard of cleaning and helping to prolong the life of their screens.
I like the mini electric pressure washer idea, i saw on on sale today for a 100 bucks, that would really speed things up!
it looks like formula 90 cost 100 bucks!
Like i said before, check with your “local” carpet cleaning supply 1st. you must be looking at a 50lb container? that would last you a loooong time and whole lotta screens!
Look for a 6 lb jar, much cheaper.
Is tide with bleach alternative just as effective.
It works I believe better. IMHO, otherwise I never would have recommended it. By the way, if you all havent figured it out yet… try mixing it with Hot water from a tap. WOW!! Lance’s disclaimer, : if you get it from customers bathtub and carry the bucket through the house and spill water, you are on your own!;)Again, if you check with your local carpet or janitorial supply, look for a “bucket heater” about $50, start your job with filling water into bucket and plug in bucket heater, give it about 20 minutes and hot water.
stay away from pressure washing of screens, IMO it is hard on the material.
Besides the fact you can leave “streak” marks in them.
I use a soft nylon “truck brush” that you can find at almost any local janitorial supply. it has a screw on end to match most poles.
If any of you have any questions regarding any of this, please dont hesitate to call me anytime.
seriously fellas do the whole job 100% or just go home cuz next time they will hire my company and never go back.
Morgan:D:D:D:eek:
What’s “the whole job” and what if they don’t want to pay for “the whole job”?
I clean screens all the time every time. I just started using Tide with Bleach Alternative (Thanks Lance!). I was using Formula 90 (Thanks Lance!) with great results also.
To me it’s not worth it to try to upsell screen cleaning. I found when I used to give people the option it was 50/50 if they wanted to pay the extra dough to get the screens cleaned too. If they didn’t want the screens cleaned then I felt awful putting dirty screens back over clean windows.
Now I just build it into my price all the time and sell myself on the fact that we don’t cut any corners and always do a thorough job.
